A Tribute To Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi

ai Khudaa ab tere firdaus pe meraa haq hai
tuune is daur ke dozaKh meN jalaayaa hai mujhe

O God! Now, I have a right on your paradise
You have scorched me in the hell, that is this era

Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi (1916 – 2006)

After rightfully staking his claim on paradise and stamping his authority on the world of Urdu literature, Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi passed away on 10th July in Lahore at a ripe age of 90. He was one of the last surviving doyens of progressive writers movement that included Majaz, Faiz, Makhdoom, Jazbi, Jafri among others. Majaz left us early in 1955 and Faiz, even though died in 1982, continue to inspire us. Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi was a versatile personality with contributions to Urdu poetry, journalism, short story writing and literary criticism. Apart from his own writings, he mentored an entire generation of young writers through his literary journal, Fanoon. Parveen Shakir considered him her teacher and used to call him Ammu. The last 7-8 years have been particularly severe for Urdu poetry lovers with Ali Sardar Jafri, Moin Ahsan Jazbi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Khumar Barabankvi, Jaun Elia and now Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, all leaving us one by one.

One of the poetry anthologies I am reading these days considers him senior to even Faiz. One of the reasons he is not so well known in India is that he has not been sung much by Ghazal singers like Ahmed Faraz and Nasir Kazmi have been. Also, mushaira audience in India did not get enough chance to hear him in person. Thanks to internet, more people worldwide would get a chance to explore his poetry. Here is a collection of my favourite couplets of Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi:

maiN tujh ko bhuul chukaa thaa lekin ek umr ke baad
teraa Khayaal kyaa thaa ke choT ubhar aayii
—–

talaash-e-husn kahaaN le chalii Khudaa jaane
umang thii ke faqat zindagii ko apnaayeN

(talaash-e-husn : search for beauty; faqat : only)
—–

sar-e-baazaar hai yaaroN kii talaash
jo guzartaa hai Khafaa lagtaa hai

(sar-e-baazaar : in public)
—–

ab to visaal-e-yaar se behtar hai yaad-e-yaar
maiN bhii kabhii fareb-e-nazar kaa shikaar thaa

(visaal-e-yaar : meeting with beloved; fareb : deceit; nazar : sight)
—–

ab aik baar to qudrat javaabdeh Thehre
hazaar baar ham insaan aazmaaye gaye

(qudrat : nature, creator; javaabdeh : answerable)
——

vo aur chiiz hai hote haiN jis se dil shaadaab
nirii bahaar se viraanii-e-KhizaaN na gayii

(shaadaab : fresh; bahaar : spring; viraanii-e-KhizaaN : loneliness of autumn)
—–

In the following two couplets, he beautifully weaves the Islamic legends with his thoughts and creates amazing couplets. It is believed that Adam was exiled from the paradise after he ate the fruit of the prohibited tree. Qasmi saahab has used that legend in the couplet.

nikal se Khuld se bhii aadmii na pachtaayaa
zamiiN pe bhii chaman-aaraa’ii-e-gumaaN na gayii

(Khuld : paradise; chaman-aaraa’ii : creating a garden; gumaaN : hope)

Also, it is Islamic belief that on the day of judgement, the Sun would be at a very close distance to earth. Now, read the following couplet and enjoy!

jab bhii aaNkhoN meN terii ruKhsat ka manzar aa gayaa
aaftaab-e-vaqt neze ke baraabar aaya

(ruKhsat : parting; manzar : vision; aaftaab-e-vaqt : Sun of that time; neze ke baraabar : very close)
—–

Qasmi saahab was also a poet of Nazms and has blessed us with some gems. I hope to post some of his Nazms at Aligarians.com in the days to come but sample the closing lines of his nazm, izhaar.

apne badle mirii tasviir nazar aa jaatii
tuune us vaqt agar aaiinaa dekhaa hotaa

hauslaa tujh ko na thaa mujh se judaa hone kaa
varnaa kaajal tirii aaNkhoN meN na phailaa hotaa

Some of his Ghazals have been put to music and I absolutely love this rendition by Nayyara Noor of his famous Ghazal:

andaaz huu-ba-huu terii aavaaz-e-paa kaa thaa
dekhaa nikal ke ghar se to jhoNkaa havaa kaa thaa

(andaaz : style; huu-ba-huu : exactly similar; aavaaz-e-paa : sound of feet)

Click here to listen:

Ghulam Ali has also sung some of Qasmi saahab’s Ghazals, seemingly earlier in his career because the Ghazals are not well-known.

1.) shaam ko sub’h-e-chaman yaad aa’ii

2.) vo ko’ii aur na thaa chand Khushk patte the

3.) mujhse kaafir ko tere ishq ne yuuN sharmaayaa

But perhaps his most popular Ghazal is ‘kisko qaatil maiN kahuuN, kisko masiihaa samajhuuN‘, from the album Sajda of Jagjit Singh and Lata Mangeshkar.

I especially like this particular couplet:

zulm ye hai ke hai yaqtaa terii begaanaaravii
lutf ye hai ke maiN ab tak tujhe apnaa samajhuuN

(zulm : injustice; begaanaaravii : indifference; lutf : pleasure)
—–

Most of the obituaries on the Blogosphere have quoted this immortal couplet of Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi,

kaun kahtaa hai ke maut aa’ii to mar jaauuNgaa
maiN to dariyaa huuN samandar meN utar jaauuNgaa

but I would like to mention another beautiful couplet:

maruuN to maiN kisii chehre meN rang bhar jaauuN
“Nadeem” kaash yahii ek kaam kar jaauuN

Indeed, Qasmi saahab. May your soul rest in peace!